Brad Friedel focusing on Aston Villa's fifth spot

Brad Friedel, the Aston Villa goalkeeper, has sounded the trumpets ahead of
his side's match against Hull on Monday, demanding that he and his
team-mates return to form in time to ensure that they finish in fifth place
this season.

The American dream: Brad Friedel (left), Aston Villa's goalkeeper, is hoping compatriot Tim Howard and his Everton side don't leapfrog them in the league tablePhoto: GETTY IMAGES

The American has insisted that it is "massively important", after missing out on Champions League qualification, that the club improve on last season's sixth place finish, so as to boost morale ahead of next season and prove that the progression demanded of the side has been made.

However, Everton, who finished fifth last season, are running them to the wire, hovering just one point behind with four games remaining. If they are to hold Everton off, therefore, Villa need rapid improvement. They have taken just four points from their last 9 games, and Friedel, meanwhile, has not kept a clean sheet since February, when Villa beat his former side Blackburn 2-0.

"I think it is massively important that we finish in fifth this season," Friedel said. "If we do that, it's been a step up from the previous campaign. As long as there is a progression made, everyone – the fans, chairman, manager and players – will be upbeat about the coming season.

"If we do miss out, it won't be a lost season but it is important to see one of our goals achieved and that was finishing higher than last season. That would give us a boost ahead of the coming season."

Interestingly, Friedel has chosen not to follow in the footsteps of many of is team-mates, who have said all along that they would have gladly taken fifth place if offered it to them at the start of the season. It is a well-worn response that, refreshingly, Friedel has shunned, saying that on joining in the summer he was persuaded that the club had ambitions that extended beyond a fifth-place finish.

He said: "If someone had offered me fifth at the start of the season, I wouldn't have accepted it. When I was doing all my talks before I joined, the ambition of the club was impressed upon me. I'm not saying it's a god-given right [to finish fourth] but we had a great chance at one stage to solidify our place in fourth.

"It wasn't to be and certainly doesn't mean this season is a throwaway. But if you handed me fifth at the start, I wouldn't have taken it, I would have played the season through and seen what happened."